Page 20 of Losing his Daddy

“He got roped in by Allyn already? I thought you said he only just arrived.” Patrick’s familiar voice came from behind Tucker.

Leaning around, I found the other man seated at his desk like a king on a throne. He grinned at me, his gaze already assessing my reason for being here. It’s not like he could see it outright. There was no way to tell without me breaking down the whole thing for them.

“To what do we owe the pleasure, Wes? It’s been ages since you’ve come around,” Patrick asked. “Tucker has missed you dearly.”

My friend went to his husband and sank down onto his lap. I rolled my eyes at them both, then eased into the only other chair available.

“The wedding is off.”

Tucker immediately broke into a cheer. Patrick didn’t. The ever-observant man leaned forward with a sharp gaze.

“She cheated, didn’t she?” He asked me.

At his husband’s words, Tucker stopped abruptly. “Wait, what? She cheated?”

I took a swig of beer, then nodded. “She did. With almost every man in my building and on my payroll.”

Tucker gasped.

Patrick winced. “Everyone?”

“Yep. I’ve got enough video footage to open my own porn video site. She’s been a busy girl.”

“You’ve gotten tested already, I assume,” Patrick prodded.

“Absolutely. And I’m in the process of listing the apartment. I’ll need to figure out which of my other properties I should move to. I’ll need to upgrade the security on them all of course. If I’d had a doorbell camera or something similar, then I’d have caught on to things much sooner.”

Tucker pulled out his phone. “We know just the people to help with the security stuff. NightShade Security is the best in the business. They don’t have a residential division, but we’ll tell them you’re an extension of club business. They’ll have no other option but to agree.”

Patrick and I let Tucker type away on his phone while we both sat quietly. I drank my beer slowly, the taste not doing much for me other than keeping me from oversharing. Not that there was really such a thing here. This place was a fucking sex club. You couldn’t really overshare after seeing your friends fuck in person. Barriers were often lowered after that.

“Ok, done. I’ve got you connected with our contact. They’ll be in touch in the next day or two. What else can we do?”

“Well, as I said, she slept with all my contacts. They all need to be replaced. And honestly, I’m not sure I want to have the setup the same.”

“What do you mean? What was the setup before?” Patrick asked.

I went on to tell them about my team of people. The housekeeper, the chef, my personal assistant, and the driver. I’d had one person for each task. While the driver was something I didn’t need often, it was nice for when I had events to go to or when there were meetings that ran late. The rest was less negotiable. I had to eat. I rarely had time or energy to clean. And even without Danielle’s busy schedule, a personal assistant was handy.

“I’d offer to help you, but my days are already jam-packed.” Tucker tapped his finger on his lip. “I might be able to inquireacross our friend groups to see if they know of anyone in need of work. Princess Aster is the central point of everything, so I’ll reach out to him first thing tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” I asked.

Patrick grinned. “The princess has a regular routine that his Daddy implements. While there are exceptions, you’ll often find he’s in bed pretty early. And it’s best to not wake him up. What’s one more day going to hurt?”

“Nothing really. If I could find someone soon though, they could make the transition with me to the new place.”

Tucker tilted his head. “Transition with you? Are you looking for a live-in position? That’s… different.”

My eyes went wide. “That’s not — I wasn’t implying…”

“We didn’t think you were. But is that something you want? Because it could definitely change the applicants that come along. I’ve never heard of such a dynamic, but there’s a time and place for everything.”

I thought over it for a moment. It didn’t sound absolutely terrible. In the last couple of years, I’d gotten used to living with Danielle. Changing homes, ending an engagement, and revamping my life was going to take a lot out of me. A companion could help with that.

Though would they really be a companion if I paid them? For a true friend, I’d need someone I didn’t pay. Or maybe a pet. It’s never something I thought I’d want. My brother was the one obsessed with animals. He even became a veterinarian simply to indulge in his love for all types of creatures.

Speaking of Robin, I needed to text him soon. He was a worrier. If there was some type of bad news about the city, he assumed I was in the thick of it. It didn’t help that he lived in the most rural area possible with a damn near nonexistent crime rate.

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